Spin off wheel for crocheting

ABSTRACT

A WHEEL IS ROTATABLY MOUNTED WITH A THREAD RECEIVING OPENING ON ITS PERIPHERY FOR RECEIVING THE END OF THREAD FROM A BALL OF YARN. A STATIONARY GUIDE LEADS THE THREAD INTO THE THREAD RECEIVING OPENING SO THAT OSCILLATION OF THE WHEEL PULLS OFF A LENGTH OF THREAD FROM THE BALL OF YARN TO PROVIDE SLACK IN THE THREAD. THE OSCILLATION OF THE WHEEL MAY BE EFFECTED BY A FOOT TREDDLE SO THAT A PERSON CROCHETING NEED NOT USE HIS OR HER HANDS FOR PULLING OFF SLACK THREAD. D R A W I N G

Feb. 6, 1973 H. A. STEVENS SPIN OFF WHEEL FQR CROCHETING Filed Dec. 23, 1971 I Fla-.3.

I8 4820 4745 46 F- |s.2.

United States Patent O 3,715,089 SPIN OFF WHEEL FOR CROCHETDI G Howard A. Stevens, Thousand Oaks, Califl, assignor of a fractional part interest to Stanley H. Stevens, Hathoro,

Filed Dec. 23, 1971, Ser. No. 211,322 Int. Cl. B65h 49/00; Dtllh 7/16 U.S. Cl. 242-1295 7 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A wheel is rotatably mounted with a thread receiving opening on its periphery for receiving the end of thread from a ball of yarn. A stationary guide leads the thread into the thread receiving opening so that oscillation of the wheel pulls olf a length of thread from the ball of yarn to provide slack in the thread. The oscillation of the wheel may be effected by a foot treddle so that a person crocheting need not use his or her hands for pulling off slack thread.

This invention relates generally to a device for facilitating crocheting, knitting, or any other operation wherein a thread is pulled from a ball of thread or yarn in making up a garment or other type of yarn product.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION In crocheting or knitting, the thread is generally provided in the form of balls of yarn. A person will start with the end of the thread from the ball and after a certain length of thread has been used up, the person will then pull more thread from the ball of yarn. This intermittent pulling of the thread from the ball of yarn in order to provide suflicient slack to facilitate the crocheting or knitting process is time consuming and very often annoying. In many instances, the ball of yarn will drop or unravel or the thread itself may become entangled. Further, the interruption of the crocheting or knitting to provide sufiicient thread slack is fairly frequent particularly when the person crocheting or knitting is fast and adept. Any type of mechanical device to facilitate pulling slack thread from a ball of yarn has been diflicult to provide heretofore. The thread itself is very difiicult to work with and tends to become snarled fairly easily. Thus, there has not really been available any worthwhile product which would help in the provision of slack thread. Accordingly, people who knit and crochet are still burdened with the problem of simply manually pulling thread from the ball of yarn periodically in order to provide slack to work with.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE PRESENT INVENTION The present invention provides a mechanism in the form of a spin off wheel for providing slack from a ball of yarn which is operable in such a manner that a persons hands are at all times free to continue knitting or crocheting all to the end that the time heretofore wasted in intermittently pulling off slack thread from a ball of yarn is avoided.

More particularly, the invention includes a frame, a wheel rotatably mounted on the frame, means for oscillating the wheel, a thread pulling means defining a thread receiving opening on the periphery of the wheel through which the end of thread from a ball of yarn may be passed, and stationary guide means through which the thread is passed. With this arrangement, oscillating movements of the wheel functions to pull off a given length of thread from the ball of yarn, this given length being determined by the arcuate distance through which the thread pulling means moves relative to the stationary guide means.

In a preferred embodiment, the oscillation of the wheel 3,715,089 Patented Feb. 6, 1973 is elfected by a foot treddle so that a person knitting or crocheting will not have to use his or her hands to provide sufficient slack thread.

The spin off wheel structure also incorporates unique design features which minimize the risk of the thread becoming entangled or snarled.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS A better understanding of the invention will be had by referring to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2. is a fragmentary cross-section partly in full lines taken in the direction of the arrows 22 of FIG. 1; and

'FIG. 3 is another fragmentary cross-section taken in the direction of the arrows 3--3 of FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to the upper portion of FIG. 1 there is shown a frame 10 rotatably supporting a wheel 11 having a shaft 12 journaled in the frame as at 13. An oscillating means designated generally by arrow 14- is coupled to the shaft 12 for oscillating the wheel through a given arc.

In the particular embodiment chosen for illustrative purposes, the oscillating means 14 includes pulley means comprised of a foot treddle pulley 15 and a return weight pulley 16. These pulleys are clutched together at 1'7 and in this clutched position will rotate the shaft 12 and thus the wheel 11. It will be noted that the foot treddle pulley 15 includes a projecting stop 18 from its front face arranged to engage stop wings 19 laterally extending from a short sleeve 19 secured to frame 10 and surrounding the shaft 12. The purpose for this structure will become clearer as the description proceeds.

As shown, there is provided a line or cord 20 wrapped about the foot treddle pulley 15 and passing downwardly to an actuating means in the form of a foot treddle structure. More particularly, the line 20 is secured to a stop means 21 reciprocable within a sleeve 22 in turn mounted in a bearing block 23. The block 23 constitutes part of the frame structure -10 as shown. The line extends from the lower end of the block 23 and includes a lower stop means '24. Beneath this stop means 24 there is disposed a foot treddle 25 terminating in a fork structure 26 arranged to overlie an end block 27. The portion of the line .28 extending from the block 23 to the lower stop 24 is flexible so that the small lateral movement of the line as a consequence of up and down arcuate movement of the foot treddle 25 will be accommodated by flexing of this portion of the line.

It will be evident from the structure described thus far that a downward pressing movement on the foot treddle 25 will pull the line 20 in the direction of the arrows adjacent to the stop 21 to rotate the foot treddle pulley 1'5 and thus swing the shaft 12 and wheel 11 through a given arc. This given are is determined by the upper stop means 21 and the lower stop means 24 which in turn limit the length of line 20 that can be pulled downwardly through the block 23.

The return weight pulley 16 also includes a line 29 wound about the pulley in a sense opposite to the line 20 and terminating in a weight 30. The pulley 16 is thus biased to rotate the shaft 12 in a counterclockwise direction as viewed from the left while the foot treddle '25 upon having a downward force exerted thereon will tend to rotate the wheel 11 in a clockwise direction.

Referring now to the left portion of FIG. 1, there is shown a holding means 31 in the shape of a cylindrical dish for supporting a ball of yarn 32. A laterally extending portion 33 of the frame 10 extends above the ball of yarn 32 in a horizontal direction and thence turns upwardly as at 34 adjacent to the front portion of the wheel 11. A stationary guide means 35 includes parallel leg portions 36 and 37 connected to the frame 33. The extending portions of the legs 36 and 37 connect together as at 38 to define a closed loop.

The spin off wheel structure is completed by the pro vision of a thread pulling member 39 extending from the periphery of the wheel 11 and including a retaining spring wire 40* defining a thread receiving opening. The free end of the wire 40 is biased into engagement with the periphery of the wheel 11 as indicated at the dotted lines 41. A thread end 42 is shown passing through the leg portions 36 and 37, looped through the thread receiving opening defined by the thread pulling member 39 and thence passing back between the leg portions 36 and 37 to terminate in a free end 43 which would normally be held by a person who is to crochet or knit.

Referring now to FIG. 2, further details of the oscillating means 14 and more particularly the clutch structure 17 will be described. As shown, the return weight pulley 16 is keyed to the shaft '12 for rotation therewith as by means of a set screw 44. The foot treddle pulley on the other hand is rotatable and axially moveable along the shaft 12 but is normally clutched to the return weight pulley 16 as by a small projection 45 from the pulley 16 being received in an opening 46 in the pulley 15. The clutching is maintained by a spring 47 within the pulley 15 surrounding the shaft 12 and bearing against a stop 48 secured to the shaft and an internal annular shoulder 49 formed in the pulley 15. By manually pulling on the pulley 15 to the left as viewed in FIG. 2; that is, in the direction of the arrow, the pulley 15 is disengaged from the pulley 16 so that the shaft and wheel may be rotated Without affecting the foot treddle pulley and the foot treddle mechanism.

FIG. 3 illustrates the details of the bearing block 23 through which the line from the foot treddle pulley '15 passes to the foot treddle of FIG. 1. As shown, the bearing sleeve 22 is locked to the bearing block 23 as by a set screw 50. The upper stop 21 on the other hand includes a tubular extension 51 secured to the line 20. The exterior surface of the extension 51 provides a smooth reciprocal bearing with the sleeve 22 for up and down movement as indicated by the double headed arrow.

With the foregoing arrangement, the degree of up and down movement can be controlled by resetting the position of the sleeve 22. For example, if the sleeve 22 is lowered as by loosening the set screw 56 there will be permitted a greater degree of movement of the line 20 through the bearing block 23 before engagement by the stop means 21 and 24 take place. This adjustment thus enables the given are of oscillatory movement of the wheel 11 to be adjusted or changed.

OPERATION In operation and with reference to FIG. 1, the foot treddle 25 has its fork portion 26 coupled over the end block 27, the other end of the treddle resting on the floor. A ball of yarn such as 32 is then placed in the holding means 31 and the end 43 of the thread 42 is passed through the thread receiving opening defined by the thread pulling member 39 on the wheel 11. To facilitate this passing of the thread about the pulling member 39, and to assure that a proper relationship exists between the thread and the leg portions 36 and 37 of the guide means 35, the wheel 11 is manually rotated in a counterclockwise direction as viewed in FIG. 1 to bring the member 39 up towards the closed end 38 of the guide means which may serve as a stop. Normally such a counter rotation of the wheel 11 could not be readily carried out because of the connection of the line 20 to the treddle pedal 25 and therefore, it is necessary to disengage the foot treddle pulley 15 by separating the clutch means described in FIG. 2. Thus the pulley 1-5 is manually slid towards the frame until the pin is free of the cavity 46 as described in FIG. 2. The wheel 11 and shaft 12 can then be rotated in the counterclockwise direction without affecting the treddle mechanism.

With the clutch mechanism disengaged and the wheel 11 rotated approximately in a counterclockwise direction, so that the member 39 engages the stop defined by the closed loop portion 38 of the guide, it a very simple matter for a person to loop the thread 42 under the biased end portion 41 defining with the thread pulling member 39 the thread receiving opening. While holding the thread end, the wheel 11 is then rotated back and beyond its original position. Manually releasing the pulley 15 will result in this pulley rotating back with the pulley 16 and shaft until the wing 19 is engaged by the stop 118, this engagement will hold the pulley 1'5 stationary until the cavity 46 is juxtaposed to the pin 45 (FIG. 2) at which time the spring 47 will clutch the pulleys 15 and 16 together.

After the foregoing operations, and with wheel 11 returned to the position shown in FIG. 1, the thread 42 will be as illustrated, the same passing between the parallel leg portions 36 and 37, about the member 39 and back between the leg portions 36 and 37.

If now the foot treddle 25 is depressed by a persons foot, the wheel 11 will be rotated through the action of the foot treddle pulley 15 and line 20 thereby pulling thread 42 from the ball of yarn 32, it being understood that the end 43 is held by the person operating the treddle. The given are turned by the wheel 11 determines the length of slack thread pulled from the ball of yarn. After the given slack is used up the resulting tension on the thread will signal the person that it is time to operate the treddle again, the weight 30 returning the wheel each time to its initial position.

The feature of the upturned frame portion 34 shown in FIG. 1 and the closing of the guide loop 35 as at 38 as well as the positioning of the leg portions 36 and 37 relative to the wheel 11 and thread pulling member 39 are all important features. As mentioned, thread is very difiicult to handle and has a great tendency to become snarled. It is found that when fairly long lengths of slack thread are pulled from the ball of yarn 32 any tendency for the slack thread to become entangled with the wheel 11 or other portions of the mechanical structure is substantially prevented by the closed loop structure 35 and the upwardly extending frame portion 34 all of which keeps slack thread in a position adjacent the lower portion of the wheel 11 where the pulling operation takes place.

The holding means 31 for the ball of yarn 32 is relatively large compared to the ball so that the ball can move around within the enclosed area to facilitate unraveling of the thread 42. On the other hand, the holding means 31 has sufficiently high side walls to prevent the ball of yarn from escaping from the mechanism and rolling along the floor.

Adjustment as to the amount of thread slack pulled each time the foot treddle 25 is operated can be effected, as mentioned heretofore, by changing the position of the sleeve 22 in the block 23 which thus changes the effective length of line 20 pulled before the stop means 21 engages the sleeve 22.

It will thus be evident from the foregoing that a simple and workable mechanical device in the form of a spin off wheel has been provided which solves the dilficult problems heretofore encountered by persons crocheting or knitting in attempting to pull off slack thread from a ball of yarn. Not only is the device easily operable by a person who is knitting or crocheting but such operation can take place without the necessity of the person stopping knitting or crocheting or using his hands in any manner except for the initial placement of the thread within the mechanism.

While only one particular embodiment of the invention has been shown and described, various changes can be effected in the actual mechanism for accomplishing the desired results without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention. For example, it is clear that a single pulley could be employed as the oscillating structure 14 with the weight 30 secured to the other end of the line 20 passing about the single pulley. Of course it would be slightly more difficult to pass the thread 42 about the member 39 in the absence of a simple means for moving the wheel 11 into a convenient position without affecting the treadle mechanism but clearly the structure would still function once the thread had been properly positioned. Also, of course, it would be possible to effect oscillation of the wheel by electrical means or equivalent power means operable by a foot switch so that the users hands would still be free. The term oscillating means or pulley means as used in the appended claims are deemed to dominate such alternatives.

What is claimed is:

1. A spin off wheel for providing slack thread from a ball of yarn, comprising, in combination:

(a) a frame;

-(b) a wheel rotatably mounted on said frame;

(c) means for oscillating said wheel;

(d) thread pulling means defining a thread receiving opening on the periphery of said wheel through which the end of thread from said ball of yarn may be passed; and

(e) stationary guide means through which said thread is passed whereby oscillating said wheel pulls off a given length of thread from said ball of yarn, said given length being determined by the arcuate distance through which said thread pulling means moves relative to said stationary guide means.

2. A spin off wheel for Crocheting comprising, in combination:

(a) a frame;

(b) a wheel having a shaft rotatably supported by said frame;

() oscillating means coupled to said shaft for oscillating said wheel through a given are;

(d) a thread pulling member defining a thread receiving opening connected to said wheel adjacent to the periphery of said wheel;

(e) holding means connected to said frame for supporting a ball of yarn; and

(f) stationary guide means including parallel leg portions connected to said frame in a position to receive thread therebetween for looping through said thread receiving opening defined by said thread pulling member, whereby a thread end from a ball of yarn in said holding means may be passed through said leg portions, looped through said thread receiving opening defined by said thread pulling member, returned through said leg portions and utilized for crocheting purposes, oscillating movement of said 6 wheel by operating said oscillating means pulling off thread from said ball of yarn to provide slack therein.

3. A spin off Wheel according to claim 2, in which said leg portions connect together at their extending ends to define a closed loop.

4. A spin off wheel according to claim 2, in which said oscillating means includes: pulley means on said shaft; a flexible line wound on said pulley means; actuating means coupled to said line for pulling on said line in one direction to rotate said pulley means in one direction; and counter weight means coupled to said pulley means to exert a force for rotating said pulley means in an opposite direction in the absence of operation of said actuating means, whereby said wheel may be oscillated back and forth by operation of said actuating means.

5. A spin ofi wheel according to claim 4, in which said actuating means comprises a foot treadle coupled to the end of said line from said pulley means.

6. A spin off wheel according to claim 5, in which said pulley means comprises a foot treadle pulley about which said flexible line is wound, said line including stop means to limit its degree of movement by said foot treadle to thereby define said given are of oscillating movement of said wheel; and a return weight pulley to which said weight is coupled, said return weight pulley being secured to said shaft and said foot treadle pulley being rotatably and axially movable on said shaft; and clutch means coupling said foot treadle pulley to said return weight pulley whereby separation of said clutch means permits rotation of said wheel without rotating said treadle pulley so that said wheel may be rotated beyond the limits of said given arc to position said thread pulling member at a convenient location to pass said thread through the thread receiving opening defined by said thread pulling member.

7. A spin off wheel according to claim 6, in which said stop means on said flexible line is adjustable to enable variation in said given are to thereby enable the length of slack thread pulled in one oscillating movement of said wheel to be changed.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 912,224 2/1909 Armington 242129.l 1,216,863 2/1917 Simonds 242-436 2,066,155 12/1936 Meyer 242-l46 3,420,468 1/1969 Rhoades 242-141 LEONARD D. CHRISTIAN, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 

